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A Cape Cod Summer

Friday, July 28, 2017

Back in the day when my brothers and sister and cousins were little, we would travel up to Cape Cod and have these amazing, magical, vacations. The pre-electronic vacations where all there was to do was spend time outside and play board games in the evening. There are only a few things that stand out in my mind from those family trips- burying family members in the sand, the horsheshoe crabs, the creepy tides at Skatet Beach, and whale watching. These were such great memories as a kid and I've always wanted to share those same experiences with my own children.

After lots of back and forth talking and planning, we finally put the plans into motion and visited Cape Cod once again--after almost 25 (OH MY GOD) years. The cousins have had babies making the second round of cousins and we thought it'd be fun to start the tradition again. I'll be honest with you- was I excited about all those fun things we did as kids that were permantely ingrained in my memory bank? Yes. Was I excited about the hellaciously long drive up there to experience those fun things? HELL NO.

We've traveled a lot with Lucca and now with the two boys so I feel like I've become pretty good as far as packing and preparing for car rides. HOWEVER, this trip was without my husband (who usually drives 99% of any trip we go on) and we were caravanning two SUV's with five children and 3 adults total. Honestly, I wasn't sure I was going to make it.

Thank God for coffee and 5 hour energy drinks. A nine hour trip turned into 12 hours- only due to gas fill-ups and bathroom breaks. The kids were actually amazing the whole time- no complaints, we just kept feeding them snacks and everyone was in and out of sleep. I was quite surprised, to be honest. But that last hour, I pretty much lost all feeling in my right leg as we finally pulled into the driveway.

Aside from the brutal drive, we had SUCH a great week. It reminded me of those old-school summers as we stayed in an old cottage in Chatham with zero A/C, no cable, and plenty of outside time. The kids were climbing trees, digging in the sand, hunting hermit crabs, and getting eaten alive by bugs. We had the best dinners, fun days at the beach, epic naps, and fun exploring the quaint little town of Chatham. Since Leo still wakes up at 5 a.m., we were the lone two awake before the sun even rose, so we would take walks down to the beach and listen to the waves and point out all the "tweet tweets" along the way.

We had such a great week with all the cousins and it will be something that Lucca will be talking about for a very long time. One thing I'll never forget was the absolute joy and excitement he had when he kept discovering hermit crabs with my Mom at Skatet Beach. He found so many he wanted to put them in a bucket to keep "fo-ev-ur".

I always thought before kids that taking trips like that seemed so daunting-- how did people DO that with kids? Are they crazy? Yes, it is. And yes, we are. The planning. The packing. The traveling. But when you get there, it's the best. Memories are made. And isn't that better than playing it safe and staying in your house? And I personally feel that the sooner you get past your front door when they're little, the easier it gets. This is all Leo has known since he was been born- he's been to Pennsylvania, Virginia Beach, New York, and Richmond. We spent a week at Lake Anna when he was only 6 weeks old!

You just have to get out there. Yes, you'll have a ton of crap, it will take a shitload of effort to get there (whether the trip is 2 hours or 12) but you'll never regret going and making some lasting memories with your family.

Here are a few photos from one amazing trip! I can't wait for many more adventures with my little family.

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About Me

I’m Lauren (Lolo). I’m a mama of two boys (1 & 3.5) living with my husband in Virginia. I'm a SAHM, business owner and blog in my sleep. I’m surviving motherhood one glass of wine at a time and documenting my journey along the way.